Overcrowding Emergency Declared At Macomb County Jail; Inmates Face Early Release

MT. CLEMENS (WWJ) - An overcrowding emergency has been declared at the Macomb County Jail.

The jail is over its limit of 1,218 inmates and has been for more than a week. Now, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham is bound by law to reduce the jail population to 1,193 -- 25 under capacity -- within 15 days.

If the goal isn't accomplished, the court can order a 20 percent sentence reduction for certain non-violent offenders.

This is the fifteenth time in about 12 years an overcrowding emergency has been declared. Overcrowding problems became worse in 2009 after the closure of a 200 bed jail annex because of budget cuts, according to a Macomb Daily report.

The last overcrowding emergency occurred in November 2014. Because the jail population could not be reduced, a judge ordered the early release of 71 inmates.